Marijuana law has come a long way in the past few years. We now have 28 states where marijuana is legal, and more facing pressure to legalize all the time.

It is about time that marijuana is recognized for it’s many benefits. Of course, it is not for everyone. Many people’s lives will not benefit from marijuana use, and it many cases it can be a detriment to happiness and productivity. However, this should not be left up to the state to decide, especially when it is less harmful than other legal drugs, and when it can be taxed and make a massive profit for the state.

As more conservative politicians retire and the younger, more liberal generation makes up more and more of the population, it is inevitable that the entirety of the United States, and many other countries, will legalize pot. It is just a matter of waiting a few more decades. Incredible progress has been made already, however, and it is an exciting time to be part of the Culture!

Illegal drugs have been used in sports for many years, the main reason being to enhance performance. Others also use drugs to relieve the stress that comes with being an athlete and the physical injuries that accompany it.

Athletes across all team sports including the major sports of basketball, baseball, football, and soccer, have been suspended and even banned from playing for having illegal drugs in their system. These drugs take away the ethics and fair play of a sport. Nonetheless, every day we here of more athletes using drugs to become better at their sport.

Doping In Sports

“Doping” is the use of illegal substances to enhance performance in sports. It is a common practice and one that some say should even be legalized. Some believe if doping is legalized it will mean less health problems and deaths.

Doping can have serious consequences not only for the player but for the entire team. Let’s take a look at the top doping substances in sports.

Tetrahydrogestrinone

Tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as “The Clear” because it can go undetected. This drug has no medical uses, it was designed specifically for athletes wanting to cheat the system. The creator Patrick Arnold made it in a way that the drug could pass normal steroid tests.

Desirable Athlete Effects of Tetrahydrogestrinone

Increased muscle mass

Increased muscle strength

Speedy muscle and injury recovery

Side Effects of Tetrahydrogestrinone

Acne

High Blood Pressure

Hair Loss in Men

Facial Hair Growth In Women

Irritable Mood

Ephedrine

Ephedrine comes from a herb called Ephedra Equisetina. This drug is illegal in weight loss products but can be found in over the counter asthma and nasal decongestion applications. The NBA, NFL, and MLB are amongst the sports that have banned this drug from being used by their athletes.

Steve Belcher, a baseball player took weight loss pills that contained ephedrine in 2003 before a workout and died. This helped lead the way for the FDA to ban ephedrine in weight loss supplements. However, many athletes are still using ephedrine for its increased performance.

Desirable Athlete Effects of Ephedrine

Increases energy

Increases alertness

Provides fast weight loss by speeding up the metabolism

The FDA has recognized over 800 side effects of ephedrine, but here are the most common.

High blood pressure

Dizziness

Seizures

Heart Attack

Cocaine

Cocaine is a stimulant abused by millions, although it is usually not thought of as a performance enhancing drug, athletes use it for the boost of self-confidence and energy it provides.

Desirable Athlete Effects of Cocaine

Increased self-confidence while playing

Increased energy

Side Effects of Cocaine

Heart attack

Confusion and paranoia

Irregular heartbeat

Marijuana

Marijuana is a popular but controversial drug. Probably one of the most used drugs in the world and in sports. In 2014 NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had said he was not opposed to his players using medical marijuana to help with injuries.

Although marijuana is legal in some states, it is not in many and athletes are illegally using it.

Desirable Athlete Effects of Marijuana

Managing Pain

Reducing anxiety before a big game

Reducing negative experiences

It’s hard to talk about side effects of marijuana as there are many controversial studies. Marijuana is on the WADA prohibited list. WADA stands for World Anti-Doping Agency, they have a list which state all prohibited substances in sports.

There are many other illegal drugs used in team sports; if you want to see them check out the WADA prohibited list available online.

Many Marijuana smokers think that it should be legalized for various reasons. The call for its legalization is due to different reasons. People think that legalizing marijuana is required to treat different illnesses.

Researches have shown that it can reduce pain, treat mental illnesses, and muscle control problems. Besides, marijuana legalization can promote consumers’ safety

Marijuana legalization can reduce violence among young men, and create more jobs opportunities. It can also be of immense economic benefit from the proceeds realized in the sale.

The above-mentioned parties are pushing for the legalization of marijuana. They think that a great percentage (About 50% or above) has tried marijuana once at some stage.

Moreover, marijuana usage will not end and the flow of money being spent on it will not stop. Therefore, legalizing marijuana will give the government a better chance to supervise and raise funds out of it.

The Libertarian Party’s point of view regarding this issue was explained by their presidential nominee Gary Johnson. He thinks that marijuana as a medicine is safer than many legal drugs that caused the death of thousands of people.

The Green Party Presidential nominee Jill Stein is a huge supporter of marijuana legalization. Her argument is that marijuana is far less dangerous than other addictive staff like nicotine or alcohol for the public health.

The Liberal Democrats Party shows that legalizing marijuana will raise about 1 Billion Sterling Pounds per year for the country. The United States Marijuana Party believes that the war on drugs should stop. They claim that legalizing marijuana will cause peace and cohesion among the people.

A study introduced by Harvard declares that Republicans in the U.S are still opposing the legalization of Marijuana by 48% and 22% are not sure, given that Americans still know that marijuana smoking has been tried at least once among many of the U.S people.

It’s a difficult question to answer. We all know people who have been harmed to one degree or another by drugs. But should the state be able to tell you whether or not you should be able to use drugs? Or should it remain a personal choice? First of all, let’s discuss habits and addictions.

Habits & Addictions

Another important topic surrounding drugs is addiction. Addiction is the human reaction to drugs, and is different for everybody. It amounts to very bad habits being compounded by addictive chemical stimulants, but can become very severe. It affects the addicted person in that they are no longer able to function in their lives, and they may also affect those around them in unexpected ways. Though addiction is different from a bad habit, many of the remedies for getting rid of bad habits help in treating addiction. You can find out how to change habits in the book End Bad Habits by Rawlings.

Back to the debate on drug use. f the state legalized all drugs, would drug use go up? Would it go down? Many legislators are scared to promote the legalization of drugs because many constituents are strongly opposed to drugs. They are afraid legalization of drugs amounts to promotion.

There’s no question that drugs are not good for you, but should drugs be illegal? Should the state be responsible for taking drugs out of the hands of it citizens, and is it even capable of doing so? In America, fear has unfortunately outstripped most rational debate on the topic.

The topic of marijuana has always been a controversial one, more so the legalization of it. Marijuana has been said to have various medicinal effects that are beginning to some to light as a result of scientific research.

Marijuana was initially termed as a recreational drug with harmful side effects which should be avoided at all costs but as time passed and studies were carried out on the drug, it was uncovered that this is not the entire case and marijuana can be useful for a lot more than harmful recreation.

Components of Marijuana

As more light was cast on marijuana, more scientific research has been carried out on it. This has uncovered several benefits of marijuana and reveals that marijuana consists of two major components, which are:

This was uncovered to be the more harmful component of marijuana. THC is the component of marijuana that is responsible for “getting high”, and the degradation of the human brain. It causes the psychotic effects gotten from marijuana

Cannabidiol has been uncovered to be the healthy and safe component of marijuana. Cannabidiol has all the therapeutic and medicinal effects of marijuana and scientists have linked it to be an analgesic (a drug which relieves pain without making you dizzy).

Cannabidiol has been linked to relief of certain types of pain, such as:

Somatic pain

Visceral pain

Neuropathic pain

Studies reveal that compared to THC, CBD is more beneficial and has next to no long term lasting adverse effects.

Efforts have been made to grow marijuana with more cannabidiol components than Tetrahydrocannabinol, and they have been successful.

So, the argument that surrounds the legalization of marijuana and its possible medicinal effects should come to a close. Marijuana production can be regulated and legalized as it can be very useful for patients with severe pain due to various illnesses which include cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and so on.

Most people have experienced pain – although in varying degrees. In most cases, people experiencing pain either suffer from injuries or chronic diseases. Therefore, they are on prescription painkillers, which are typically opioid painkillers.

However, people suffering from chronic pain have few treatment options and end up living on life-long opioid prescriptions, which are medically hailed as the cure to acute pain.

Opioid painkillers

Opioid painkillers are quite a relief to people suffering from chronic pain, but they are only effective for a short span of time. Prescription opioids are easily absorbed into the blood and transported to the brain via chemical transporters, which target brain cells.

Once the opioids come into contact with these cells, they bind to certain receptors to inhibit pain and trigger positive feelings.

Opioid tolerance

Unfortunately, the relief and stimulation of positive feelings last only a few weeks since the brain adapts to the binding of receptors and lowers the effect of opioids.

Thus, the opioid painkillers become less medically significant in the blood due to the body’s tolerance to them. Consequently, the opioid prescriptions have to be used in higher dosage to impact pain relief.

Opioid side effects

Tolerance to opioid painkillers makes them unreliable for medical use and poses a risk of overdosing for patients. Although, all opioid painkillers have been tested for analgesia (pain relief), activities, aberrant behaviours and adverse effects, many users still experience negative side effects.

Typically, the drawbacks of opioid prescription include drowsiness, constipation and addiction, which happen mostly when the dosage is adjusted upwards to impact pain relief.

Marijuana as a painkiller

Marijuana is a sound alternative for chronic pain relief especially for persons suffering from chronic diseases. In fact, marijuana is safer than opioids since it poses no threat of an overdose and virtually no risk of addiction in short-term use. Primarily, marijuana is absorbed by the body and affects the brain cells the same way opioids do to relief pain.

Despite its less severe side effects and superior effectiveness in pain relief, marijuana is not yet a mainstream medical option.

On the other hand, opioid painkiller addictions have been growing increasingly fast and are widespread in the United States. Statistical reports indicate that 48 million people are affected wherein the highest number of persons affected by the pandemic is from the States in which medical marijuana is prohibited.

The states and countries in which legalization of marijuana for pain relief has been affected cite the dangers of opioid prescriptions. Medical reports and research publications clearly voice the cycle of addiction to death. In fact, most opioid prescriptions result in addiction, in which their continued use make withdrawal impossible leading to consequent over dosage and the risk of heart failure.

Benefits of Marijuana as a painkiller

Apart from the dangers of opioid prescriptions and their ineffectiveness, legalization of marijuana for pain relief is also warranted by its positive side effects, treating nausea and increased appetite especially for terminally ill patients.

In addition, the doses of marijuana required to relief pain are much lower than for opioid prescriptions even in the long-term use. Furthermore, marijuana ranks as the least addictive substance among, alcohol, caffeine and opioids. In fact, it has the slightest dependency complications and it is applicable in in increasing efficacy of opioids in the long-term without the need to increase dosage.